Chapter 5: A Tour of Gomorrah

Each of the Ashen Cities stands out from the surrounding terrain because of the white ash contained within them. This ash-like material is not everywhere, but is only present in a few special ‘city-sized’ areas along the Dead Sea. 

The best preserved of these Cities is Gomorrah, which is underneath Masada (see the panoramic picture opposite). Gomorrah’s white ash-like remains are clearly visible, 
contrasting with the general brown rock all around. 

To walk along the streets and among the buildings of Gomorrah, is to be reminded of the dramatic events that took place 4000 years ago, and the fact that the Bible is true, and that God means what He says when He warns us about the coming Judgement of Fire! 

Despite 4000 years of erosion, Gomorrah still displays shapes of Caananite-style Double City-Walls, City-Buildings, Towers, Ziggurats and Sphinxes. As you walk down the streets, you will see these symmetrical formations. It is as if these buildings were literally turned to ash by extreme heat. They were able to hold their shape because this compacted ash is actually denser than the original limestone from which the buildings were constructed.

*DOUBLE-CITY-WALLS 

Some formations look just like Double City Walls, typical of Canaanite Cities, showing characteristic features such as flying buttresses and pilasters (places where the Wall was made extra thick, in order to strengthen it against attack). Notice the right-angles which rarely happen naturally. Traces of windows can even be seen in these Walls. 

A Double Wall means the attackers first have to scale the Lower Wall, then climb a steep slope before scaling the upper walls. This slope, called a Glacis, would be made slippery so that it was hard to climb. While the attackers are on this slope, between the walls, they were trapped in a ‘killing-zone’, easy targets for the archers on the walls above. Therefore this Double-Wall System was a very effective defensive fortification. Later, when Joshua came against the nearby Canaanite Jericho, he faced this kind of Double-Walled System (see my book: Joshua’s Jericho).